FIRST SOUNDS AND BEGINNINGS OF SPEECH IN THE CASE OF A CHILD OBSERVED
DAILY DURING HIS FIRST THREE YEARS.
The observations bearing upon the acquirement of speech recorded by me
in the case of my boy from the day of his birth, the 23d of November,
1877, are here presented, so far as they appear worthy of being
communicated, in chronological order. They are intended to serve as
authenticated documents.
The points to which the attention is to be directed in these
observations are determined by the organic conditions of the acquirement
of speech, which have been treated previously. First, the expressive
processes, next the impressive, last the central processes, claim the
attention. (1) To the _expressive_ beginnings of speech belongs the sum
total of the inarticulate sounds--crying, whimpering, grunting, cooing,
squealing, crowing, laughing, shouting (for joy), modulation of the
voice, smacking, and many others, but also the silent movement of the
tongue; further, articulation, especially before imitation begins; the
formation of sound, and so the gradual perfecting of the vowels,
aspirates, and consonants; at the same time the forming of syllables.
The last is especially easy to follow in the babbling monologues of the
infant, which are often very long. The reduplication of syllables,
accentuation, and inflection, whispering, singing, etc., belong likewise
here. (2) The _impressive_ processes are discerned in the looks and
gestures of the child as yet speechless; later, the ability to
discriminate in regard to words and noises, and the connection of the
ear with the speech-center, are discerned in the first imitations of
sounds and in the repeating after others--i. e., in word-imitation. Here
belong also the onomatopoetic attempts of children, which are simply a
sort of imitation. Later, are added to these the answers to simple
spoken questions, these answers being partly interjectional, partly
articulate, joined into syllables, words, and then sentences. The
understanding of words heard is announced especially by the first
listening, by the association of certain movements with certain
sound-impressions, and of motionless objects with other
sound-impressions, before speaking begins. Hereby (3) the _central_
processes are already shown to be in existence. The childish logic,
especially induction from too few particulars, the mutilation of words
reproduced, the wrong applications of expressions correctly repeated,
the confounding of opposites in the verbal designation of concepts of
the child's own formation, offer an abundance of noteworthy facts for
the genesis of mind. Moreover, the memory for sounds and words, the
imagination, especially in filling out, as well as the first acts of
judging, the forming of propositions, questioning--all these are to be
considered. As for the order in which the separate classes of words
appear, the training in learning-by-heart, speculations as to which
spoken word is first perfectly understood, to these matters I have paid
less attention, for the reason that here the differences in the child's
surroundings exert the greatest influence. My report must, in any event,
as a rough draft of the history of the development of language in the
child, be very imperfect. It, however, contains nothing but perfectly
trustworthy matter of my own observation.
During the first weeks the child often cried long and vigorously from
discomfort. If one were to try to represent by written vowels the
screaming sounds, these would most nearly resemble, in the majority of
cases, a short _u_ (oo in book), with a very quickly following prolonged
_ae_ (_ai_ in fair); thus, _uae_, _uae_, _uae_, _uae_, were the first sounds
that may be approximately expressed. They were uttered after the lapse
of five months exactly as at the beginning, only more vigorously. All
the other vowel-sounds were at first undefined.
Notwithstanding this uniformity in the vowel-sounds, the sounds of the
voice are so varied, even within the first five weeks, that it may be
told with certainty from these alone whether the child feels hunger or
pain or pleasure. Screaming with the eyes firmly closed in hunger,
whimpering in slight indisposition, laughing at bright objects in
motion, the peculiar grunting sounds which at a later period are joined
with abdominal pressure and with lively arm-movements, as the
announcement of completed digestion and of wetness (retained for the
first of these states even into the seventeenth month), are manifold
acoustic expressions of vitality, and are to be looked upon as the first
forerunners of future oral communication, in contrast with the
loud-sounding reflex movements of sneezing and of hiccough, and with the
infrequent snoring, snuffling (in sucking), and other loud expirations
observed in the first days, which have just as little linguistic value
as have coughing and the later clearing of the throat.
The voice is very powerful as early as the sixth day, especially when it
announces feelings of discomfort. Screaming is much more frequent,
persistent, and vigorous also when diluted cow's milk is given instead
of that from the breast. If one occupies himself longer than usual with
the infant (in the first two months), the child is afterward more
inclined to cry, and cries then (as in the case of hunger) quite
differently from what he does when giving notice of something
unpleasant--e. g., wetness. Directly upon his being made dry, the crying
ceases, as now a certain contentment is attained. On the other hand, the
inclination to cry serves very early (certainly from the tenth week on)
as a sign of well-being (or increase in the growth of the muscles). At
least a prolonged silence at this season is wont to be connected with
slight ailment. But it is to be remarked that during the whole period no
serious illness, lasting more than one day, occurred.
On the forty-third day I heard the _first consonant_. The child, in a
most comfortable posture, uttering all sorts of obscure sounds, said
once distinctly _am-ma_. Of vowels, _ao_ was likewise heard on that day.
But, on the following day, the child surprised me and others by the
syllables, spoken with perfect distinctness, _ta-hu_.
On the forty-sixth day, in the otherwise unintelligible babble of the
infant, I heard, once each, _goe_ (_oe_ nearly like _i_ in bird), _oeroe_,
and, five days later, _ara_.
In the eighth and ninth _weeks_, the two utterances, _oerroe_, _arra_,
became frequent, the _oe_ and _a_ being pure and the _r_ uvular.
The syllable _ma_ I heard by itself (it was during his crying) for the
first time on the sixty-fourth day. But on the following day was
sounded, during persistent, loud crying, often and distinctly (it
returned in like manner months after), _nei_, _nei_, _nei_, and once,
during his babbling, _a-omb_.
On the day after, distinctly, once each, _la_, _grei_, _aho_, and,
besides, _ma_ again.
On the sixty-ninth day, the child, when hungry, uttered repeatedly and
very distinctly, _moemm_ and _ngoe_.
Of the syllables earlier spoken, only _oerroe_ is distinctly repeated in
the tenth week. On the seventy-first day, the child being in the most
comfortable condition, there comes the new combination, _ra-a-ao_, and,
five days later, in a hungry and uncomfortable mood, _nae_, and then
_n[=a]i-n_.
The manifest sign of contentment was very distinct (on the
seventy-eighth day): _habu_, and likewise in the twelfth week _a-i_ and
_u[=a]o_, as well as _ae-o-a_, alternating with _ae-a-a_, and _o-ae-oe_.
It now became more and more difficult to represent by letters the
sounds, already more varied, and even to distinguish the vowels and
repeat them accurately. The child cries a good deal, as if to exercise
his respiratory muscles. To the sounds uttered while the child is lying
comfortably are added in the fourteenth week _ntoe_, _ha_. The last was
given with an unusually loud cry, with distinct aspiration of the _h_,
though with no indication that the child felt any particular pleasure.
At this period I heard besides repeatedly _loe_, _na_, the latter along
with screaming at disagreeable impressions more and more frequently and
distinctly; in the fifteenth week, _nannana_, _n[=a]-n[=a]_, _nanna_ in
refusal. On the other hand, the earlier favorite _oerroe_ has not been
heard at all for some weeks.
Screaming while waiting for his food to be prepared (milk and water)
or for the nurse, who had not sufficient nourishment for the child,
is marked, in the sixteenth week--as is also screaming on account
of unpleasant feelings--in general by predominance of the vowels,
_ae-[)u]_, _ae-[)u] ae_, _[=a]-[)u]_, _[=a]-[)u]_, _[)u]-ae_, _[)u]-ae_,
_[=u]-[=u]-[=a]-oe_, but meantime is heard _amme-a_, and as a sign
of special discomfort the persistent ill-sounding
_[=u][)a]-[=u][)a]-[=u][)a]-[=u][)a]_ (_[)u]_ = Eng. _[=oo]_).
Screaming in the first five months expresses itself in the main by the
vowels _u_, _ae_, _oe_, _a_, with _ue_ and _o_ occurring more seldom, and
without other consonants, for the most part, than _m_.
In the fifth month no new consonants were developed except _k_; but a
merely passive _goe_, _koe_, _aggegg[)e]koe_, the last more rarely than the
first, was heard with perfect distinctness during the child's yawning.
While in this case the _g_-sound originates passively, it was produced,
in connection with _oe_, evidently by the position of the tongue, when
the child was in a contented frame, as happens in nursing; _oegoe_ was
heard in the twenty-second week, as well as _ma-oe-[)e]_, _h[)a]_,
_[=a]_, _ho-ich_. The _i_ here appeared more distinct than in the third
month. The soft _ch_, which sounded like the _g_ in "Honig," was
likewise quite distinct.
About this time began the amusing loud "crowing" of the child, an
unmistakable expression of pleasure. The strong aspirate sound _ha_, and
this sound united with the labial _r_ in _brrr-ha_; corresponding in
force to the voice, which had become exceptionally powerful, must
likewise be regarded as expressions of pleasure. So with the sounds
_aja_, _oerrgoe_, _[=a]-[=a]-i-[)o]-[=a]_, which the child toward the end
of the first half-year utters as if for his own gratification as he lies
in comfort. With these belongs also the frequently repeated "eu" of the
French "heure," and the "oeu" of the French "coeur," which is not
found in the German language, also the primitive sounds _ae_ and _oe_
(German). The lips contract very regularly, and are protruded equally in
the transition from _ae_ to _oe_. I heard also _ijae_ cried out by the
child in very gay mood. In the babbling and crowing continued often for
a long time without interruption, consonants are seldom uttered, pure
vowels, with the exception of _a_, less often than _ae_ and _oe_; _i_ and
_u_ are especially rare.
When the child lies on his back, he moves his arms and legs in a lively
manner even without any external provocation. He contracts and expands
all the muscles he can command, among these especially the muscles of
the larynx, of the tongue, and of the aperture of the mouth. In the
various movements of the tongue made at random it often happens that the
mouth is partly or entirely closed. Then the current of air that issues
forth in breathing bursts the barrier and thus arise many sounds, among
them some that do not exist in the German language, e. g., frequently
and distinctly, by means of labio-lingual stoppage, a consonant-sound
between _p_ and _t_ or between _b_ and _d_, in the production of which
the child takes pleasure, as he does also in the labial _brr_ and _m_.
By far the greater part of the consonant-sounds produced by the
exercises of the tongue and lips can not be represented in print; just
as the more prolonged and more manifold movements of the extremities,
movements made by the child when he has eaten his fill, and is not
sleepy and is left to himself, can not be drawn or described. It is
noteworthy that all the utterances of sound are expiratory. I have not
once observed an attempt to form sounds while drawing in the breath.
In the seventh month the child at one time screamed piercingly, in very
high tones, from pain. When hungry and desiring milk, he said with
perfect distinctness, _mae_, _ae_, _[)u]ae_, _[)u]ae[)e]_; when contented he
would say _oerroe_ too, as at an earlier period. The screaming was
sometimes kept up with great vigor until the child began to be hoarse,
in case his desire, e. g., to leave his bed, was not granted. When the
child screams with hunger, he draws the tongue back, shortens it and
thereby broadens it, making loud expirations with longer or shorter
intervals. In pain, on the other hand, the screaming is uninterrupted
and the tones are higher than in any other screaming. During the
screaming I heard the rare _l_ distinctly in the syllable _lae_. The
vowels _[)u]-[=a]-[)u]-i-i_ also appeared distinctly, all as if coming
by accident, and not often pure. The _t_ also was seldom heard; _f_,
_s_, _sch_, _st_, _sp_, _sm_, _ts_, _ks_, _w_, not once yet; on the
other hand, _b_, _d_, _m_, _n_, _r_, often; _g_, _h_, more seldom; _k_,
only in yawning; _p_, but very rarely, both in screaming and in the
child's babble to himself or in response to friendly address.
In the eighth month the screaming sounds were for the most part
different from what they had been; the disagreeable screaming no
longer so intense and prolonged, from the time that the food of the
child consisted exclusively of pap (Kindermehl) and water. Single
vowels, like _u_ and _ae_, are very often not to be heard pure. Often
the child does not move the lips at all when with mouth shut he
lifts and drops the larynx, and with eager desire for the pap howls;
or coos like a dove, or grunts. The prattling monologues become
longer when the child is alone, lying comfortably in bed. But
definite consonants can only with difficulty be distinguished in
them, with the exception of _r_ in the _oerroe_, which still continues
to be uttered, though rarely and unintentionally. Once the child,
while in the bath, cried out as if yawning, _h[=a]-upp_, and
frequently, when merry, _a-[(ei]_, _a-[(au]_, _[)a]-h[(au]-[)a]_,
_hoerroe_. When he babbles contentedly in this manner, he moves the
tongue quickly, both symmetrically, e. g., raising the edges
equally, and asymmetrically, thrusting it forward to right or left.
He often also puts out the tongue between the lips and draws it back
during expiration, producing thereby the before-mentioned
labio-lingual explosive sounds. I also heard _nt[)e]-oe_, _mi-ja_,
_mija_ (_j_ like Eng. _y_) and once distinctly _o[)u][=a][)e]i_.
In the ninth month it is still difficult to recognize definite syllables
among the more varied utterances of sound. But the voice, often indeed
very loud and inarticulate, is already more surely modulated as the
expression of psychical states. When the child, e. g., desires a new,
especially a bright object, he not only stretches both arms in the
direction of it, indicating the direction by his gaze, but also makes
known, by the same sound he makes before taking his food, that he wants
it. This complex combination of movements of eye, larynx, tongue, lips,
and arm-muscles appears now more and more; and we can recognize in his
screaming the desire for a change of position, discomfort (arising from
wet, heat, cold), anger, and pain. The last is announced by screaming
with the mouth in the form of a square and by higher pitch. But delight
at a friendly expression of face also expresses itself by high crowing
sounds, only these are not so high and are not continued long. Violent
stretchings of arms and legs accompany (in the thirty-fourth week first)
the joyous utterance. Coughing, almost a clearing of the throat, is very
rare. Articulate utterances of pleasure, e. g., at music, are _mae-mae_,
_aem-mae_, _mae_.
Meantime the lip-movements of the _m_ were made without the utterance of
sound, as if the child had perceived the difference. Other expressions
of sound without assignable cause are _[=a]-au [=a]-[=a]_, _[=a]-[)o]_,
_a-u-au_, _na-na_, the latter not with the tone of denial as formerly,
and often repeated rapidly in succession. As separate utterances in
comfortable mood, besides _oerroe_ came _apa_, _ga au-[)a]_, _acha_.
The tenth month is marked by the increasing distinctness of the
syllables in the monologues, which are more varied, louder, and more
prolonged when the child is left to himself than when any one tries
to entertain him. Of new syllables are to be noted _ndae[)e]_,
_b[=a]e-b[=a]e_, _ba ell_, _arroe_.
From the forty-second week on, especially the syllables _mae_ and
_pappa_, _tatta_, _appapa_, _babba_, _taetae_, _pa_, are frequently
uttered, and the uvular _rrrr_, _rrra_, are repeated unweariedly.
The attempts to make the child repeat syllables pronounced to him,
even such syllables as he has before spoken of his own accord, all
fail. In place of _tatta_ he says, in the most favorable instance,
_tae_ or _ata_; but even here there is progress, for in the previous
month even these hints at _imitating_ or even responding to sound
were almost entirely lacking.
In the eleventh month some syllables emphatically pronounced to the
child were for the first time correctly repeated. I said "ada" several
times, and the attentive child, after some ineffectual movements of the
lips, repeated correctly _ada_, which he had for that matter often said
of his own accord long before. But this single repetition was so decided
that I was convinced that the _sound-imitation_ was intentional. It was
the first _unquestionable_ sound-imitation. It took place on the three
hundred and twenty-ninth day. The same day when I said "mamma," the
response was _nanna_. In general, it often happens, when something is
said for imitation, and the child observes attentively my lips, that
evident attempts are made at imitation; but for the most part something
different makes its appearance, or else a silent movement of the lips.
In the forty-fifth week everything said to the child, in case it
received his attention, was responded to with movements of lips and
tongue, which gave the impression of being made at random and of serving
rather for diversion.
Further, at this period the child begins during his long monologues to
_whisper_. He produces sounds in abundance, varying in force, pitch, and
_timbre_, as if he were speaking an unknown tongue; and some single
syllables may gradually be more easily distinguished, although the
corresponding positions of the mouth pass into one another, sometimes
quite gradually, sometimes rapidly. The following special cases I was
able to establish by means of numerous observations:
In crying _rrra_, there is a vibration on both sides of the edges of the
tongue, which is bent to a half-cylinder with the ridge upward. In this
way the child produces three kinds of _r_-sounds--the labial, the
uvular, and this bilateral-lingual.
New syllables of this period are _ta-h[(ee]_, _dann-tee_,
_[(aa]-n[(ee]_, _ngae_, _tai_, _bae_, _dall_, _at-tall_, _kamm_,
_akkee_, _prai-jer_, _tra_, _[=a]-h[(ee]_. Among them _tra_ and
_pra_ are noteworthy as the first combination of _t_ and _p_ with
_r_. The surprising combinations _attall_ and _akkee_ and _praijer_,
which made their appearance singly without any occasion that could
be noticed, like others, are probably the first attempts to
reproduce the child's own name (Axel Preyer) from memory. Of earlier
sounds, syllables, and combinations of these, the following are
especially frequent: _Mammam_, _apapa_, _oerroe_, _papa_, _tata_,
_tatta_, _n[(aa]_, _rrra_, _pata_, _mmm_, _n[)a]_, _[=a]_, _ae_,
_[(au]_, _anna_, _attapa_, _dadada_, _ja_, _ja-ja_, _eja_, _jae_.
The last syllables are distinguished by the distinct _e_, which is
now more frequent.
All the pains taken to represent a babbling monologue perfectly by
letters were fruitless, because these distinct and oft-repeated
syllables alternated with indistinct loud and soft ones. Still, on the
whole, of the consonants the most frequent at this period are _b_, _p_,
_t_, _d_, _m_, _n_, and the new _r_; _l_, _g_, _k_, not rare. Of vowels
the _a_ has a decided preponderance. Both _u_ and _o_ are rare; _i_ very
rare. Yet a vowel is not repeated, either by itself or in a syllable,
more than five times in succession without an interval. Commonly it is
twice or three times. I have also noticed that the mechanical repetition
of the same syllable, e. g., _papapa_, occurs far more often than the
alternation of a distinctly spoken syllable with, another distinctly
spoken one, like _pata_. In the mean time it is certain that the child
during his various movements of lips and tongue, along with contraction
and expansion of the opening of the mouth, readily starts with surprise
when he notices such a change of acoustic effect. It seems as if he were
himself taking pleasure in practicing regularly all sorts of symmetrical
and asymmetrical positions of the mouth, sometimes in silence, sometimes
with loud voice, then again with soft voice. In the combinations of
syllables, moreover, palpable accentuation somewhat like this, _appapapa
atatata_, is by no means frequent. The surprisingly often repeated
_dadada_ has generally no accent.
With regard to the question whether in this period, especially important
for the development of the apparatus of speech, any articulate utterance
of sound stands in firm association with an idea, I have observed the
child under the most varied circumstances possible without disturbing
him; but I have ascertained only one such case with certainty. The
_atta_, _hoedda_, _hatta_, _hatai_, showed itself to be associated with
the perception that something disappeared, for it was uttered when some
one left the room, when the light was extinguished, and the like; also,
to be sure, sometimes when such remarkable changes were not
discoverable. Thus, the eleventh month ends without any other
indubitable firm _association of articulation and idea_.
In the next four weeks, up to the _end of the first year_ of life, there
was no progress in this respect to record; but, from this time on, an
eager desire--e. g., for a biscuit seen, but out of reach--was regularly
announced by _ae-na_, _ae-nananana_, uttered loudly and with an
expression of indescribable longing.
The attempts at imitation, too, are somewhat more successful, especially
the attention is more strained. When, e. g., in the fifty-first week, I
sang something for the child, he gazed fixedly more than a minute, with
immovable countenance, without winking, at my mouth, and then moved his
own tongue. Correct repetition of a syllable pronounced to him is,
however, very rare. When I laugh, and the child observes it, he laughs
likewise, and then crows, with strong abdominal pressure. This same loud
expression of joy is exhibited when the child unexpectedly sees his
parents at a distance. This peculiar pressure, with strong expiration,
is in general associated with feelings of pleasure. The child almost
seems to delight in the discovery of his own abdominal pressure, when he
produces by means of it the very high crowing sounds with the vowel _i_
or a genuine grunt.
Of articulate sounds, syllables, and combinations, made without
suggestion from others in the twelfth month, I have caught the following
particularly with accuracy: _haja_, _jajajajaja_, _aja_, _njaja_,
_nain-hopp_, _ha-a_, _pa-a_, _d[=e]waer_, _han-na_, _moemma_, _allda_,
_alldai_, _apa-u-a_, _gaegae_, _ka_, _ladn_. Besides, the earlier _atta_
variously modified; no longer _dada_.
More important than such almost meaningless sound-formations, among
which, by the way, appears for the first time _w_ is the now awakened
_ability to discriminate between words heard_. The child turns around
when his name is spoken in a loud voice; he does this, it is true, at
other loud sounds also, but then with a different expression. When he
hears a new tone, a new noise, he is surprised, opens his eyes wide, and
holds his mouth open, without moving.
By frequent repetition of the words, "Give the hand," with the holding
out of the hand, I have brought the child, in the fifty-second week, to
the point of obeying this command of himself--a sure proof that he
distinguishes words heard. Another child did the same thing in the
seventh month. In this we can not fail to see the beginning of
communication by means of ordinary language, but this remained a
one-sided affair till past the third half-year, the child being simply
receptive. During this whole period, moreover, from birth on, special
sounds, particularly "sch (Eng., _sh_), ss, st, pst," just the ones not
produced by the child, had a remarkable effect of a quieting character.
If the child heard them when he was screaming, he became quiet, as when
he heard singing or instrumental music.
In the _first weeks of the second year of life_, the child behaves just
as awkwardly as ever in regard to saying anything that is said to him,
but his attention has become more lively. When anything is said to him
for him to say--e. g., _papa_, _mama_, _atta_, _tatta_--he looks at the
speaker with eyes wide open and mouth half open, moves the tongue and
the lips, often very slightly, often vigorously, but can not at the same
time make his voice heard, or else he says, frequently with an effort of
abdominal pressure, _attai_. Earlier, even in the forty-fifth week, he
had behaved in much the same way, but to the word "papa," pronounced to
him, he had responded _rrra_. Once only, I remember, _papa_ was repeated
correctly, in a faint tone, on the three hundred and sixty-ninth day,
almost as by one in a dream. With this exception, no word could be
repeated on command, notwithstanding the fact that the faculty of
imitation was already active in another department. The syllables most
frequently uttered at this stage were _nja_, _njan_, _dada_, _atta_,
_mama_, _papai_, _attai_, _na-na-na_, _hatta_,
_meen[)e]-meen[)e]-meen[)e]_, _moemm_, _moemma_, _ao-u_.
Of these syllables, _na-na_ regularly denotes a desire, and the arms are
stretched out in connection with it; _mama_ is referred to the mother
perhaps in the fifty-fourth week, on account of the pleasure she shows
at the utterance of these syllables, but they are also repeated
mechanically without any reference to her; _atta_ is uttered now and
then at going away, but at other times also. His joy--e. g., at
recognizing his mother at a distance--the child expresses by crowing
sounds, which have become stronger and higher than they were, but which,
can not be clearly designated; the nearest approach to a representation
of them is _[)a]hij[)a]_. Affirmation and negation may already be
recognized by the tone of voice alone. The signification of the cooing
and the grunting sounds remains the same. The former indicates desire of
food; the latter the need of relieving the bowels. As if to exercise the
vocal cords, extraordinarily high tones are now produced, which may be
regarded as signs of pleasure in his own power. An imperfect language
has thus already been formed imperceptibly, although no single object is
as yet designated by a sound assigned to it _alone_. The articulation
has made progress, for on the three hundred and sixty-eighth day
appeared the first distinct _s_, in the syllable _ssi_; quite
incidentally, to be sure.
The most important advance consists in the now awakened _understanding
of spoken words_. The ability to learn, or the capability of being
trained, has emerged almost as if it had come in a night.
For it did not require frequent repetition of the question, "How tall is
the child?" along with holding up his arms, in order to make him execute
this movement every time that he heard the words, "Wie gross?" ("How
tall?") or "ooss," nay, even merely "oo." It was easy, too, to induce
him to take an ivory ring, lying before him attached to a thread, into
his hand, and reach it to me prettily when I held out my hand and said,
"Where is the ring?" and, after it had been grasped, said, "Give." In
the same way, the child holds the biscuit, which he is carrying to his
mouth, to the lips of the person who says pleasantly to him, "Give"; and
he has learned to move his head sidewise hither and thither when he
hears "No, no." If we say to him, when he wants food or an object he has
seen, "Bitte, bitte" (say "Please"), he puts his hands together in a
begging attitude, a thing which seemed at first somewhat hard for him to
learn. Finally, he had at this time been taught to respond to the
question, "Where is the little rogue?" by touching the side of his head
with his hand (a movement he had often made of himself before).
From this it appears beyond a doubt that now (rather late in comparison
with other children) the association of words heard with certain
movements is established, inasmuch as upon acoustic impressions--at
least upon combined impressions of hearing and of sight, which are
repeated in like fashion--like movements follow, and indeed follow
invariably with the expression of great satisfaction on the countenance.
Yet this connection between the sensorium and the motorium is not yet
stable, for there follows not seldom upon a command distinctly uttered,
and without doubt correctly understood, the wrong movement--paramimy.
Upon the question, "How tall?" the hands are put together for "Please,"
and the like. Once when I said, "How tall?" the child raised his arms a
moment, then struck himself on the temples, and thereupon put his hands
together, as if "rogue," and then "please," had been said to him. All
three movements followed with the utmost swiftness, while the expression
of face was that of a person confused, with wavering look. Evidently the
child had _forgotten_ which movement belonged with the "tall," and
performed all the three tricks he had learned, _confounding_ them one
with another. This confounding of arm-raising, head-shaking, giving of
the ring, putting the hands together, touching the head, is frequent. It
is also to be noticed that some one of these five tricks is almost
invariably performed by the child when some new command is given to him
that he does not understand, as he perceives that something is required
of him--the first conscious act of _obedience_, as yet imperfect.
In the fourteenth month there was no great increase in the number of
independent utterances of sound that can be represented by syllables of
the German language. Surprising visual impressions, like the brilliant
Christmas-tree, and the observation of new objects, drew from the
pleasurably excited child, without his having touched anything, almost
the same sounds that he at other times made when in discontented mood,
_[)u]ae_, _m[)u]ae_, only softer; _moemoe_ and _mama_, and also _papa_ are
frequent expressions of pleasure. When the child is taken away, he often
says _ta-ta_ loudly, also, _atta_ in a whisper. There can no longer be a
doubt that in these syllables is now expressed simply the idea of
"going." The labial _brrr_, the so-called "coachman's _R_," was
practiced by the child, of his own accord, with special eagerness, and
indeed was soon pronounced so cleverly that educated adults can not
produce it in such purity and especially with so prolonged an utterance.
The only new word is _dakku_ and _daggn_, which is often uttered
pleasantly with astonishing rapidity, in moments of enjoyment, e. g.,
when the child is eating food that tastes good. But it is also uttered
so often without any assignable occasion, that a definite meaning can
hardly be attributed to it, unless it be that of satisfaction. For it is
never heard when the least thing of a disagreeable sort has happened to
the child. The probability is obvious that we have here a case of
imitation of the "Thanks" (Danke) which he has not seldom heard. But the
modifications _taggn_, _attagn_, _attatn_, pass over into the word,
undoubtedly the original favorite, _tai_, _atai_.
Among all the indistinct and distinct sounds of the babbling monologues,
no inspiratory ones appeared at this time either; but such did make
their appearance now and then, in a passive manner, in swallowing and in
the coughing that followed.
I spent much time in trying to get the child to repeat vowels and
syllables pronounced to him, but always without special success. When I
said plainly to him "pa-pa-pa," he answered loudly _ta-tai_, or with
manifest effort and a vigorous straining, _t-tai_, _k-tai_, _at-tai_,
_hattai_, and the same when "ma-ma" was said for him by any one, no
matter whom. He also moved lips and tongue often, as if trying to get
the sound in various ways; as if the _will_ of the child, as he
attentively observed the mouth of the speaker, were present, but not the
ability to reproduce the sound-impression. Evidently he is taking pains
to repeat what he has heard; and he laughs at the unsuccessful effort,
if others laugh over it. The earliest success is with the repetition of
the vowels "a-u-o," but this is irregular and inaccurate.
In contrast with these halting performances stands the precise,
_parrot-like repetition_ of such syllables as the child had uttered of
his own accord, and which I had immediately after pronounced to him.
Thus _attai_, _tai_, _atta_, were often easily and correctly repeated,
but, strangely enough, frequently in a whisper. The _ae-[)e]_, _ae-oe_,
_ae-[)e]_, accompanied by oscillatory movements of the hand, when
imitated directly by me was also produced again; in like manner,
regularly, the _dakkn_, but this course did not succeed in the case of
other primitive syllables or words, even under the most favorable
circumstances: here it is to be borne in mind that the last-named
utterances were precisely the most frequent at this period. When he was
requested with emphasis to say _papa_, _mama_, _tata_, he would bring
out one of the tricks he had been taught in the previous month; among
others, that of moving the head to one side and the other as if in
negation; but this it could not be, for this significance of the gesture
was wholly unknown to him at that time. Rather had the child received
the impression from my voice that he was to do something that he was
bidden, and he did what was easy to him just at the moment,
"mechanically," without knowing which of the movements that he had
learned was required (cf. p. 116).
In regard to the _understanding of words heard_, several points of
progress are to be noted; above all a change of place in consequence of
the question, "Where is your clothes-press?" The child, standing erect,
being held by the hand, at these words turns his head and his gaze
toward the clothes-press, draws the person holding him through the large
room by the hand, although he can not walk a step alone, and then opens
the press without assistance. Here, at the beginning of the fourteenth
month, is the _idea of a definite stationary object associated with a
sound heard_, and so strongly that it is able to produce an independent
act of locomotion, the first one; for, although before this the
clothes-press had often been named and shown, the going to it is still
the child's own performance.
It is now a matter of common occurrence that other words heard have also
a definite relation to objects seen. The questions, "Where is papa?
mamma? the light?" are invariably answered correctly, after brief
deliberation, by turning the head (at the word "light," occasionally
since the ninth month) and the gaze in the proper direction, and by
lifting the right arm, often also the left, to point, the fingers of the
outstretched hand being at the same time generally spread out. In the
previous month, only the association of the word _mama_ with the
appearance of the mother was established. The following are now added
to the movements executed upon hearing certain words. The child likes to
beat with his hands upon the table at which he is sitting. I said to
him, "Play the piano," and made the movement after him. Afterward, when
I merely said the word "piano" to the child (who was at the time quiet),
without moving my hands, he _considered_ for a few seconds, and then
beat again with his hands on the table. Thus the recollection of the
sound was sufficient to bring out the movement. Further, the child had
accustomed himself, of his own accord, to give a regular _snort_,
contracting the nostrils, pursing up the mouth, and breathing out
through the nose. If now any one spoke to him of the "nose," this
snorting was sure to be made. The word put the centro-motors into a
state of excitement. The same is true of the command "Give!" since the
child reaches out the object he is holding or is about to take hold of,
in case any one puts out the hand or the lips to him. Some weeks ago
this took place only with the ring and biscuit; now the word "give" has
the same effect with any object capable of being grasped, but it
operates almost like a reflex stimulus, "mechanically," without its
being even once the case that the act of giving is a purely voluntary
act or even occasioned by sympathy.
In these already learned co-ordinated movements made upon hearing the
words "Please, How tall? rogue! no! piano! ring! give!" all of which
are now executed with shorter intervals of deliberation as if by
a well-trained animal, there is in general absolutely no deeper
understanding present than that to this and the other sound-impression
belong this and the other movement. By means of daily repetition of
both, the time required for the production of the movement after the
excitement of the auditory nerve becomes less and less, the doubt as to
which movement follows this or that sound withdrawing more and more. At
last the responsive movements followed without any remarkable strain of
attention. They became habitual.
Now and then, however, the movements are still confounded. Upon "no!
no!" follows the touching of the head; upon "please," the shaking of the
head; upon "rogue," the putting of the hands together, etc. These errors
become frequent when a new impression diverts the attention. They become
more and more rare through repetition of the right movements made for
the child to see and through guiding the limbs of the child. A further
evidence of the increased ability to learn toward the end of the month
is the fact that the hands are raised in the attitude of begging not
only at the command "Please," but also at the question, "How does the
good child behave?" Thus, the experience is beginning to become a
conscious one that, in order to obtain anything, the begging attitude is
useful.
The fifteenth month brought no new definite independent utterances of
sound with the exception of _wa_. Sensations and emotions, however, are
indicated more and more definitely and variously by sounds that are
inarticulate and sometimes unintelligible. Thus, astonishment is
expressed by _h[=a]-[=a] [)e][=a]-[)e]_; joy by vigorous crowing in very
high tones and more prolonged than before; further, very strong desire
by repeated _haeoe_, _hae-[)e]_; pain, impatience, by screaming in vowels
which pass over into one another.
The only word that is unquestionably used of the child's own motion to
indicate a class of perceptions is still _atta_, _ha-atta_, which during
the following month also is uttered softly, for the most part, on going
out, and which signifies "away" or "gone" (weg), and still continues to
be used also as it was in the eleventh month, when a light is dimmed (by
a lamp-shade). Beyond this no syllable can be named that marked the dawn
of mental independence, none that testified to the voluntary use of
articulate sounds for the purpose of announcing perceptions. For the
_brrr_, the frequent _dakkn_, _mamam_, _moemoe_, and _papap_, are without
significance in the monologues. Even the saying of _atta_, with turning
of the head toward the person going away, has acquired the meaning of
"away" (fort) only through being repeatedly said to the child upon his
being carried out; but no one said the word when the lamp was
extinguished. Here has been in existence for some time not only the
formation of the concept, but also the designation of the concept by
syllables. The similarity in the very different phenomena of going away
and of the dimming of the light, viz., the disappearance of a visual
impression, was not only discovered, but was named by the child entirely
independently in the eleventh month, and has kept its name up to the
present time. He has many impressions; he perceives, he unites qualities
to make concepts. This he has been doing for a long time without words;
but only in this _one_ instance does the child express one of his
concepts in language after a particular instance had been thus named for
him, and then the word he uses is one not belonging to his later
language, but one that belongs to all children the world over.
In regard to the repeating of syllables pronounced to him a marked
advance is noticeable. The child can not, indeed, by any means repeat
_na_ and _pa_ and _o_ or _e_ and _be_. He answers _a_, _tai_,
_ta-a-o-oe-a_, and practices all sorts of tongue-and lip-exercises. But
the other syllables uttered by him, especially _anna_, _tai_, _dakkn_,
_a_, he says in response to any one who speaks them distinctly to him,
and he gives them easily and correctly in parrot fashion. If a new word
is said to him, e. g., "kalt" (cold), which he can not repeat, he
becomes vexed, turns away his head, and screams, too, sometimes. I have
been able to introduce into his vocabulary only one new word. In the
sixty-third week he seized a biscuit that had been dipped in hot water,
let it fall, drew down the corners of his mouth, and began to cry. Then
I said "heiss" (hot), whereupon the child, speedily quieted, repeated
_hai_ and _hai-s_ (with a just discernible _s_). Three days later the
same experiment was made. After this the _hais_, _haisses_, with
distinct _s_, was often heard without any occasion. Some days later I
wanted him to say "hand." The child observed my mouth closely, took
manifest pains, but produced only _ha-iss_, then very distinctly _hass_
with sharp _ss_, and _ha-ith_, _hadith_, with the English _th_; at
another time distinctly _ha-its_. Thus, at a time when _ts_ = _z_ can
not be repeated, there exists the possibility of pronouncing _z_. When I
said to him "warm," _ass_ was pronounced with an effort and distinctly,
although the syllable _wa_ belonged to the child's stock of words. This
was evidently a recollection of the previous attempts to repeat "heiss"
and "hand."
Corresponding to this inability to say words after another's utterance
of them is an articulation as yet very imperfect. Still, there is
indication of progress in the distinctness of the _s_, the frequent
English _th_ with the thrusting out of the tip of the tongue between the
incisors, the _w_, which now first appears often, as well as in the
_smacking_ first heard in the sixty-fifth week (in contented mood). The
tongue is, when the child is awake, more than other muscles that in the
adult are subject to cerebral volition, almost always in motion even
when the child is silent. It is in various ways partly contracted,
extended, bent. The lateral bending of the edges of the tongue downward
and the turning back of the tip of the tongue (from left to right) so
that the lower surface lies upward, are not easily imitated by adults.
The mobility of my child's tongue is at any rate much greater than that
of my tongue, notwithstanding the fact that, in consequence of varied
practice from an early period in rapid speaking, the most difficult
performances in rapid speaking are still easily executed by mine. The
tongue is unquestionably the child's favorite plaything. One might
almost speak of a lingual delirium in his case, as in that of the
insane, when he pours forth all sorts of disconnected utterances,
articulate and inarticulate, in confusion; and yet I often saw his
tongue affected with fibrillar contractions as if the mastery of the
hypoglossus were not as yet complete. Quite similar fibrillar movements
seem to be made by the tongue in bulbar paralysis, and in the case of
dogs and guinea-pigs whose hypoglossus has been severed.
To the number of words heard that already produce a definite movement
are added the following new ones. The child is asked, "Where is the
moon? the clock? the eye? the nose?" and he raises an arm, spreads the
fingers, and looks in the proper direction. If I speak of "coughing," he
coughs; of "blowing," he blows; of "kicking," he stretches out his legs;
of "light," he blows into the air, or, if there is a lamp in sight,
toward that, looking at it meantime--a reminiscence of the blowing out
of matches and candles often seen by him. It requires great pains to get
from him the affirmative nod of the head at the spoken "ja, ja." Not
till the sixty-fourth week was this achieved by means of frequent
repetition and forcible direction, and the movement was but awkwardly
executed even later--months after. On hearing the "no, no," the negative
shake of the head now appeared almost invariably, and this was executed
as by adults without the least uncertainty.
The holding out of his hand at hearing "Give the hand," occurs almost
invariably, but is not to be regarded as a special case of understanding
of the syllable "give," for the word "hand" alone produces the same
result.
All these accomplishments, attained by regular training, do not afford
the least evidence of an understanding of what is commanded when the
sound-impression is converted into motor impulse. It is rather a matter
of the establishment of the recollection of the customary association of
both during the interval of deliberation. The words and muscular
contractions that belong together are less often confounded, and the
physiological part of the process takes less time, but its duration is
noticeably prolonged when the child is not quite well. He deliberates
for as much as twelve seconds when the question is asked him, "Where is
the rogue?" and then responds with the proper gesture (p. 115).
The sixteenth month brought few new articulate utterances of sound, none
associated with a definite meaning; on the other hand, there was a
marked progress in repeating what was said to the child, and especially
in the understanding of words heard.
Among the sounds of his own making are heard--along with the _hae!_
_hae-oe!_ _ha-[)e]!_ _h[)e]-[)e]!_ that even in the following months
often expresses desire, but often also is quite without meaning--more
seldom _hi_, _goe-goe_, _goe_, _f-pa_ (the _f_ for the first time),
_[(au]_, and more frequently _ta_, _dokkn_, _ta-ha_, _a-bwa-bwa_,
_b[)u][=a]-b[)u]-[=a]_, and, as if by accident, once among all sorts of
indefinable syllables, _dagon_. Further, the child--as was the case in
the previous month--likes to take a newspaper or a book in his hands and
hold the print before his face, babbling _ae-[)e]_, _ae-[)e]_, _ae-[)e]_,
evidently in imitation of the reading aloud which he has often observed.
By giving the command, "Read!" it was easy to get this performance
repeated. Besides this, it is a delight to the child to utter a
syllable--e. g., _bwa_ or _ma_--over and over, some six times in
succession, without stopping. As in the previous month, there are still
the whispered _attoe_ and _hattoe_, at the hiding of the face or of the
light, at the shutting of a fan, or the emptying of a soup-plate,
together with the _dakkn_, with the combinations of syllables made out
of _ta_, _pa_, _ma_, _na_, _at_, _ap_, _am_, _an_, and with _moemoe_. The
_papa_ and _mama_ do not, however, express an exclusive relation to the
parents. Only to the questions, "Where is papa?" "Where is mamma?" he
points toward them, raising his hand with the fingers spread. Pain is
announced by loud and prolonged screaming; joy by short, high-pitched,
piercing crowing, in which the vowel _i_ appears.
Of isolated vowels, _a_ only was correctly repeated on command. Of
syllables, besides those of the previous month, _moe_ and _ma_; and here
the child's excessive gayety over the success of the experiment is
worthy of remark. He made the discovery that his parrot-like repetition
was a fresh source of pleasure, yet he could not for several weeks
repeat again the doubled syllables, but kept to the simple ones, or
responded with all sorts of dissimilar ones, like _attob_, or said
nothing. The syllable _ma_ was very often given back as _hoema_ and
_hoemoe_; _pa_ was never given back, but, as had been the case
previously, only _ta_ and _tai_ were the responses, made with great
effort and attention, and the visible purpose of repeating correctly. To
the word "danke," pronounced for him with urgency innumerable times, the
response is _dakkn_, given regularly and promptly, and this in the
following months also. If all persuasion failed, and the child were then
left to himself without any direction of his attention, then not
infrequently new imitations of sounds would be given correctly--e. g.,
when I said "bo"--but these, again, would no longer succeed when called
for. Indeed, such attempts often broke down utterly at once. Thus the
child once heard a hen making a piteous outcry, without seeing the
creature, and he tried in vain to imitate the sound, but once only, and
not again. On the other hand, he often succeeds in repeating correctly
movements of the tongue made for him to see, as the thrusting out of the
tongue between the lips, by reason of the extraordinary mobility of his
tongue and lips; he even tries to smack in imitation. The more frequent
partial contractions of the tongue, without attempts at speaking, are
especially surprising. On one side, toward the middle of the tongue,
rises a longitudinal swelling; then the edges are brought together, so
that the tongue almost forms a closed tube; again, it is turned
completely back in front. Such flexibility as this hardly belongs to the
tongue of any adult. Besides, the lips are often protruded a good deal,
even when this is not required in framing vocables.
The gain in the understanding of words heard is recognizable in this,
that when the child hears the appropriate word, he takes hold, with
thumb and forefinger, in a most graceful manner, of nose, mouth, beard,
forehead, chin, eye, ear, or touches them with the thumb. But in doing
this he often confounds ear and eye, chin and forehead, even nose and
ear. "O" serves in place of "Ohr" (ear); "Au" in place of "Auge" (eye).
In both cases the child soon discovered that these organs are in pairs,
and he would seize with the right hand the lobe of my left and of my
right ear alternately after I had asked "Ear?" How easily in such cases
a new sound-impression causes confusion is shown by the following fact:
After I had at one time pointed out one ear, and had said, "Other ear,"
I succeeded, by means of repetition, in getting him to point out this
other one also correctly every time. Now, then, the thing was to apply
what had been learned to the eye. When one eye had been pointed out, I
asked, "Where is the other eye?" The child grasped at an ear, with the
sight of which the sound "other" was now associated. Not till long after
(in the twentieth month) did he learn to apply this sound of himself to
different parts of the body. On the other hand, he understands perfectly
the significance of the commands, "Bring, fetch, give----"; he brings,
fetches, gives desired objects, in which case, indeed, the gesture and
look of the speaker are decisive; for, if these are only distinctly
apprehended, it does not make much difference which word is said, or
whether nothing is said.
In the seventeenth month, although no disturbance of the development
took place, there was no perceptible advance in the utterance of
thoughts by sounds, or in the imitation of syllables pronounced by
others, or in articulation, but there was a considerable increase of
the acoustic power of discrimination in words heard and of the memory
of sounds.
Of syllables original with the child, these are new: _Bibi_,
_nae-nae-nae_--the first has come from the frequent hearing of "bitte";
the last is an utterance of joy at meeting and an expression of the
desire to be lifted up. Otherwise, longing, abhorrence, pleasure and
pain, hunger and satiety, are indicated by pitch, accent, _timbre_,
intensity of the vocal sounds, more decidedly than by syllables. A
peculiar complaining sound signifies that he does not understand;
another one, that he does not wish. In place of _atta_, at the
change of location of an object perceived, comes often a _t-to_ and
_hoet-to_, with the lips much protruded. But, when the child himself
wishes to leave the room, then he takes a hat, and says _atta_,
casting a longing look at his nurse, or repeatedly taking hold of
the door.
Of voluntary attempts to imitate sounds, the most noteworthy were the
efforts to give the noise heard on the winding of a time-piece, and to
repeat tones sung.
The associations of words heard with seen, tangible objects on the one
hand, and, on the other hand, with definite co-ordinated muscular
movements, have become considerably more numerous. Thus the following
are already correctly distinguished, being very rarely confounded: Uhr
(clock), Ohr (ear); Schuh (shoe), Stuhl (chair), Schulter (shoulder),
Fuss (foot); Stirn (forehead), Kinn (chin); Nase (nose), blasen (blow);
Bart (beard), Haar (hair); heiss (hot), Fleisch (meat).
In addition to the above, eye, arm, hand, head, cheek, mouth, table,
light, cupboard, flowers, are rightly pointed out.
The child so often obeys the orders he hears--"run," "kick," "lie
down," "cough," "blow," "bring," "give," "come," "kiss"--that when
he occasionally does not obey, the disobedience must be ascribed no
longer, as before, to deficient understanding, but to caprice, or,
as may be discerned beyond a doubt from the expression of his
countenance, to a genuine roguishness. Thus the spoken consonants
are at last surely recognized in their differences of sound.
In the eighteenth month this ability of the ear to discriminate, and
with it the understanding of spoken words, increases. "Finger, glass,
door, sofa, thermometer, stove, carpet, watering-pot, biscuit," are
rightly pointed out, even when the objects, which were at first touched,
or merely pointed at, along with loud and repeated utterance of those
words, are no longer present, but objects like them are present. Say
"Finger," and the child takes hold of his own fingers only; "Ofen"
(stove), then he invariably at first looks upward ("oben"). Besides the
earlier commands, the following are correctly obeyed: "Find, pick up,
take it, lay it down." Hand him a flower, saying, "Smell," and he often
carries it to his nose without opening his mouth.
The repeating of syllables spoken for him is still rare; "mamma" is
responded to by _ta_. The voluntary repeating of syllables heard by
chance is likewise rare; in particular, "jaja" is now repeated with
precision.
The _atta_, which used to be whispered when anything disappeared from
the child's field of vision, has changed to _tto_ and _t-tu_ and _ftu_,
with pouting of the lips.
In the monologues appear _naei_, _mimi_, _paepae_, _mimiae_, _pata_,
_rrrrr_, the last uvular and labial for minutes at a time. But these
meaningless utterances are simply signs of well-being in general, and
are gladly repeated from pleasure in the exercise of the tongue and
lips. The tongue still vibrates vigorously with fibrillar contractions
when it is at rest, the mouth being open.
Characteristic for this period is the precision with which the various
moods of feeling are expressed, without articulate sounds, by means of
the voice, now become very high and strong, in screaming and crowing,
then again in wailing, whimpering, weeping, grunting, squealing; so that
the mood is recognized by the voice better than ever before, especially
desire, grief, joy, hunger, willfulness, and fear. But this language can
not be represented by written characters.
The same holds good of the nineteenth month, in which bawling and
babbling are more rare, the spontaneous sound-imitations are more
frequent, the vocal cords are strained harder, the mechanism of
articulation works with considerably more ease; the understanding
and the retention of spoken words have perceptibly increased, but
no word of the child's own, used always in the same sense, is added.
When the child has thrown an object from the table to the floor, he
often follows it with his gaze and whispers, even when he does not know
he is observed, _atta_ or _t-ta_, which is here used in the same sense
with _tuff_ or _ft_ or _ftu_, for "fort" (gone).
When he had taken a newspaper out of the paper-basket and had spread it
on the floor, he laid himself flat upon it, holding his face close to
the print, and said--evidently of his own accord, imitating, as he had
done before, the reading aloud of the newspaper, which had often been
witnessed by him--repeating it for a long time in a monotonous voice,
_e-ja-e-e-ja nanana ana-na-na atta-ana [=a]je-ja s[=a]_; then he tore
the paper into many small pieces, and next turned the leaves of books,
uttering _pa-pa-ab ta hoe-oe-[)e] moemoemoem hoe-oen[)e]_.
Such monologues are, however, exceptional at this period, the rule being
uniform repetitions of the same syllable, e. g., _habb habb habb habb
habbwa habbua_.
Screaming when water of 26 deg. C. was poured over him in the bath
appeared, a few days after the first experiment of this sort, even
before the bathing, at sight of the tub, sponge, and water.
Previously, fear had only in very rare cases occasioned screaming,
now the _idea_ of the cold and wet that were to be expected was
enough to occasion violent screaming. After about three weeks of
daily bathing with water from 18 to 24 deg. C., however, the screaming
decreased again. The experience that a pleasant feeling of warmth
succeeded, may have forced the recollection of the unpleasant
feeling into the background. But the screaming can not at all be
represented by letters; _ae_ and _oe_ do not suffice. The same is true
of the screaming, often prolonged, before falling asleep in the
evening, which occurs not seldom also without any assignable
occasion, the child making known by it his desire to leave the bed.
As this desire is not complied with, the child perceives the
uselessness of the screaming, and at length obeys the command, "Lie
down," without our employing force or expedients for soothing him.
How far the power of imitation and of articulation is developed, is
shown especially by the fact that now, at last, _pa_ is correctly
pronounced in response; in the beginning _ta_ was still frequently the
utterance, then _ba_, finally _pa_ almost invariably given correctly.
Further, these results were obtained:
Words said to him. Response.
bitte _bis_, _bits_, _bit_, _bets_, _beest_,
_be_, _bi_, _bit-th_ (Eng., _th_).
hart _hatt_, _att_, _haat_.
Fleisch _da-ich_, _dai-s-ch_, _dai-s-j_.
ma _moe_, _ma_.
In _bits_ appears with perfect distinctness (as already in the fifteenth
month) the very rare _ts_ = _z_. The "hart" was once only confounded
with "haar," and responded to by grasping at the hair. The _bits_ soon
served to add force to the putting together of the hands in the attitude
of begging; it is thus the first attempt at the employment of a German
word to denote a state of his own, and that the state of desire. The
other words said to him, and illustrated by touching and putting the
hands upon objects, could not be given by him in response. When he was
to say "weich" (soft), "kalt" (cold), "nass" (wet), he turned his head
away in repugnance, as formerly. To "nass" he uttered in reply, once
only, _na_. Smacking, when made for him, was imitated perfectly. The
early morning hours, in which the sensibility of the brain is at its
highest, are the best adapted to such experiments; but these experiments
were not multiplied, in order that the independent development might not
be disturbed.
The progress in the discrimination of words heard, and in the firm
retention of what has been repeatedly heard, is shown particularly in
more prompt obedience, whether in abstaining or in acting.
To the list of objects correctly pointed out upon request are added
"leg, nail, spoon, kettle," and others. It is noteworthy, too, that now,
if the syllables _pa_ and _ma_, or _papa_ and _mamma_, are prefixed to
the names of the known parts of the face and head, the child points
these out correctly; e. g., to the question "Where is Mamma-ear," the
child responds by taking hold of the ear of his mother, and to
"papa-ear," of that of his father; so with "nose, eye," etc. But if
asked for "mamma-beard," the child is visibly embarrassed, and finally,
when there is a laugh at his hesitation, he laughs too.
The old tricks, "How tall is the child?" and "Where is the little
rogue?" which have not been practiced for months past, have been
retained in memory, for when in the eighty-second week I brought out
both questions with urgency, the child bethought himself for several
seconds, motionless, then suddenly, after the first question, raised
both arms. After the other question he likewise considered for several
seconds, and then pointed to his head as he used to do. His _memory_ for
sound-impressions often repeated and associated with specific movements
is consequently good.
In the twentieth month there was an important advance to be recorded in
his manner of repeating what was said to him. Suddenly, on the five
hundred and eighty-fourth day, the child is repeating correctly and
without difficulty words of two syllables that consist either of two
like syllables--for the sake of brevity I will call these
_like-syllabled_--or of syllables the second of which is the reverse of
the first--such I call _reverse-syllabled_. Thus of the first class are
_papa_, _mama_, _bebe_, _baba_, _neinei_, _jaja_, _bobo_, _bubu_; of the
second class, _otto_, _enne_, _anna_; these are very frequently given
back quickly and faultlessly at this period, after the repetition of the
single syllables _pa_, _ma_, and others had gone on considerably more
surely than before, and the child had more often tried of himself to
imitate what he heard. These imitations already make sometimes the
impression of not being voluntary. Thus the child once--in the
eighty-third week--observed attentively a redstart in the garden for two
full minutes, and then imitated five or six times, not badly, the piping
of the bird, turning round toward me afterward. It was when he saw me
that the child first seemed to be aware that he had made attempts at
imitation at all. For his countenance was like that of one awaking from
sleep, and he could not now be induced to imitate sounds. After five
days the spectacle was repeated. Again the piping of the bird was
reproduced, and in the afternoon the child took a cow, roughly carved
out of wood, of the size of the redstart, made it move back and forth on
the table, upon its feet, and chirped now as he had done at sight of the
bird; _imagination_ was here manifestly much excited. The wooden animal
was to represent the bird, often observed in the garden, and nesting in
the veranda; and the chirping and piping were to represent its voice.
On the other hand, words of unlike syllables, like "Zwieback" (biscuit),
"Butterbrod," are either not given back at all or only in unrecognizable
fashion, in spite of their being pronounced impressively for him.
"Trocken" (dry) yields sometimes _tokk[)e]_, _tokko_, _otto_. Words of
one syllable also offer generally great difficulties of articulation:
thus "warm" and "weich" become _w[=a]i_, "kalt" and "hart" become
_hatt_. Although "bi" and "te" are often rightly given each by itself,
the child can not combine the two, and turns away with repugnance when
he is to reproduce "bi-te." The same thing frequently happens, still,
even with "mamma" and "papa." But the child, when in lively spirits,
very often pronounces of his own accord the syllables "bi" and "te"
together, preferring, indeed, _bidth_ (with English _th_) and _beet_ to
"bitte." In place of "adjoe" (adieu) he gives back _ad[=e]_ and
_adj[=e]_. Nor does he succeed in giving back three syllables; e. g.,
the child says _papa_, but not "papagei", and refuses altogether to
repeat "gei" and "pagei." The same is true of "Gut," "Nacht," although
he of himself holds out his hand for "Gute Nacht."
When others laugh at anything whatsoever, the child laughs regularly
with them, a purely imitative movement.
It is surprising that the reproducing of what is said to him succeeds
best directly after the cold bath in the morning, when the child has
been screaming violently and has even been shivering, or when he is
still screaming and is being rubbed dry, and, as if resigned to his
fate, lies almost without comprehension. The will, it would seem, does
not intrude here as a disturbing force, and echolalia manifests itself
in its purity, as in the case of hypnotics. The little creature is
subdued and powerless. But he speedily recovers himself, and then it is
often quite hard to tell whether he _will_ not or _can_ not say the word
that is pronounced to him.
The _understanding of single words_, especially of single questions and
commands, is considerably more prompt than in the previous month.
Without there being any sort of explanation for it, this extraordinary
understanding is here, manifesting itself particularly when the child is
requested to fetch and carry all sorts of things. He has observed and
touched a great deal, has listened less, except when spoken to. All
training in tricks and performances, an evil in the modern education of
children hard to avoid, was, however, suppressed as far as possible, so
that the only new things were "making a bow" and "kissing the hand." The
child practices both of these toward the end of the month, without
direction, at coming and going. Many new objects, such as window, bed,
knife, plate, cigar, his own teeth and thumbs, are correctly pointed
out, if only the corresponding word is distinctly pronounced. Yet "Ofen"
and "oben" are still confounded.
To put into written form the syllables invented by the child
independently, and to get at a sure denotation of objects by them, is
exceedingly difficult, particularly when the syllables are merely
whispered as the objects are touched, which frequently occurs. At the
sight of things rolled noisily, especially of things whirling in a
circle, the child would utter _rodi_, _otto_, _rojo_, and like sounds,
in general, very indistinctly. Only _one_ new concept could with
certainty be proved to be associated with a particular sound. With
_d[=a]_ and _nd[=a]_, frequently uttered on the sudden appearance of a
new object in the field of vision, in a lively manner, loudly and with a
peculiarly demonstrative accent--also with _t[=a]_ and _nt[=a]_--the
child associates, beyond a doubt, existence, coming, appearing, shooting
forth, emerging, in contrast with the very often softly spoken,
whispered _atta_, _f-tu_, _tuff_, which signifies "away" or "gone." If I
cover my head and let the child uncover it, he laughs after taking off
the handkerchief, and says loudly _da_; if I leave the room, he says
_atta_ or _haetta_, or _ft_ or _t-ta_, generally softly; the last of
these, or else _hata_, he says if he would like to be taken out himself.
In the eighty-seventh week we went away on a journey, and on the
railway-train the child, with an expression of terror or of anxious
astonishment, again and again said _attah_, but without manifesting the
desire for a change of place for himself, even by stretching out his
arms.
Two words only--_papa_ for father, and _baet_ or _bit_ for "bitte," are,
besides, rightly applied of the child's own accord. The prolonged
screaming, from wantonness, of _n[=a]n[=a]n[=a]n[=a]_, _nom-nom_,
_h[=a]h[=a]_, _l[=a]l[=a]_, chiefly when running about, has no definite
meaning. The child exercises himself a good deal in loud outcry, as if
he wanted to test the power of his voice. These exercises evidently
give him great pleasure. Still the highest crowing tones are no longer
quite so high and piercing as they were formerly. The vocal cords have
become larger, and can no longer produce such high tones. The screaming
sounds of discontent, which continue to be repeated sometimes till
hoarseness appears, but rarely in the night, have, on the contrary, as
is the case with the shrill sounds of pain, scarcely changed their
character, _hae-e_, _hae-ae-ae-[)e]_, _[)e]_. They are strongest in the
bath, during the pouring on of cold water.
The child, when left to himself, keeps up all the time his loud readings
("Lesestudien"). He "reads" in a monotonous way maps, letters,
newspapers, drawings, spreading them out in the direction he likes, and
lies down on them with his face close to them, or holding the sheet with
his hands close to his face, and, as before, utters especially
vowel-sounds.
In the twenty-first month imitative attempts of this kind became more
frequent; but singularly enough the babbling--from the eighty-ninth week
on--became different. Before this time vowels were predominant, now more
_consonants_ are produced. When something is said for the child to
reproduce that presents insuperable difficulties of articulation, then
he moves tongue and lips in a marvelous fashion, and often says
_ptoe-ptoe_, _pt-pt_, and _verlapp_, also _dla-dla_, without meaning, no
matter what was the form of the word pronounced to him. In such practice
there often appears likewise a wilfulness, showing itself in
inarticulate sounds and the shaking of the head, even when it is merely
the repetition of easy like-syllabled words that is desired. Hence, in
the case of new words, it is more difficult than before, or is even
impossible to determine whether the child _will_ not or whether he _can_
not reproduce them. Words of unlike syllables are not repeated at all,
not even "bitte." In place of "danke" are heard _dang-gee_ and
_dank-kee_; the former favorite _dakkn_ is almost never heard. In most
of the attempts at sound imitation, the tendency to the doubling of
syllables is worthy of notice. I say "bi," and the answer is _bibi_;
then I say "te," and the answer is _te-te_. If I say "bi-te," the answer
is likewise _bibi_; a single time only, in spite of daily trial, the
answer was _bi-te_, as if by oversight.
This doubling of syllables, involuntary and surely contrary to the will
of the child, stands in remarkable contrast with the indolence he
commonly shows in reproducing anything said, even when the fault is not
to be charged to teasing, stubbornness, or inability. The child then
finds more gratification in other movements than those of the muscles of
speech. The babbling only, abounding in consonants, yields him great
pleasure, particularly when it is laughed at, although it remains wholly
void of meaning as language. Yet _bibi_, like _baebae_, for "bitte," is
correctly used by the child of his own accord.
A new word, and one that gives notice of a considerable advance, is
the term used by the child when hungry and thirsty, for "milk" or
"food." He says, viz., with indescribable longing in his voice,
_mimi_, more rarely than before _maemae_ and _moemoem_ (page 85). The
first appellation was certainly taken from the often-heard "milk" by
imitation, and applied to biscuit and other kinds of food. If the
child, when he has eaten enough, is asked, "Do you want milk?" he
says without direction, _neinein_; he has thus grasped and turned to
use already the signification of the sound. The same is, perhaps,
true also of "ja." For previously, when I asked the child as he was
eating, "Does it taste good?" he was silent, and I would say, "Say
jaja," and this would be correctly repeated. But in the ninety-first
week he, of his own accord, answers the question with _jaja_--"yes,
yes." This, too, may rest simply on imitation, without a knowledge
of the meaning of the _ja_, and without an understanding of the
question; yet there is progress in the recollection of the
connection of the sound "schmeckt's" with _jaja_, the intermediate
links being passed over.
In other cases, too, the strength of the memory for sounds is plainly
manifested. To all questions of an earlier period, "Where is the
forehead, nose, mouth, chin, beard, hair, cheek, eye, ear, shoulder?"
the child now at once pointed correctly in every instance, although he
might not have answered them for anybody even once for two weeks. Only
the question, "Where is the thumb?" made him hesitate. But when the
thumb had been again shown to him (firmly pressed), he knew it, and from
that time pointed it out invariably without delay. To the question,
"Where is the eye?" he is accustomed to shut both eyes quickly at the
same time and to open them again, and then to point to my eye; to the
question, "Axel's eye?" he responds by pointing to his own; to the
question, "The other eye?" by pointing to the one not touched.
In the understanding of what is spoken astonishing progress has been
made--e. g., if I say, "Go, take the hat and lay it on the chair!" the
child executes the order without considering more than one or two
seconds. He knows the meaning of a great number of words that no one has
taught him--e. g., "whip, stick, match, pen." Objects of this sort are
surely distinguished by the child, for, upon receiving orders, he gets,
picks up, brings, lays down, gives these things each by itself.
This understanding of spoken words is the more surprising, as his
repetition of them continues still to be of a very rudimentary
character. With the exception of some interjections, especially
_j[=a][)e]_ as a joyous sound and of crowing sounds, also screaming
sounds, which, however, have become more rare, the child has but few
expressions of his own with a recognizable meaning; _ndae_, _ndae_, _da_
is demonstrative "da" ("there") at new impressions.
_Att_, _att_, _att_, is unintelligible, perhaps indicative of movement.
_Attah_ means "we are off" (upon setting out) and "I want to go" ("ich
will fort"); _tatass_, _tatass_ is unintelligible, possibly a
sound-imitation.
When traveling by rail the child tried several times to imitate the
hissing of the steam of the locomotive.
In the twenty-second month again there are several observations to
record, which show the progress in understanding, the strengthening of
the memory, and the greater facility in articulation. The child executes
the orders given him with surprising accuracy, although the words spoken
have not previously been impressed on him separately. Here, indeed, it
is essential to consider the looks and gestures of those who give the
orders; but the child also does what I request of him without looking
at me. Instances of confusion among the words known to him are also
perceptibly more rare. Once I asked him very distinctly, "Where's the
moon?" (Mond), and for answer the child pointed to his mouth (Mund). But
the error was not repeated.
The strength of the word-memory appears particularly in this, that all
the objects learned are more quickly pointed out on request than they
were previously, and the facility of articulation is perceived in the
multiplying of consonants in the monologues and in the frequent
spontaneous utterance of _pss_, _ps_, _ptsch_ (once), and _pth_ (Engl.).
The child says, without any occasion, _pa-ptl-dae_, _pt_, and gives a
loud greeting from a distance with _h[=aa]-oe_, with _ada_, and _ana_.
It seemed to me remarkable that the boy began several times without the
least incitement to _sing_ tolerably well. When I expressed my approval
of it, he sprang about, overjoyed. At one time he sang, holding his
finger on his tongue, first _rollo_, _rollo_, innumerable times, then
_mama_, _mama_, _maemae_, _mama_.
The progress in the sound-mechanism is most plainly discerned in the
greater certainty in reproducing what is spoken. Thus, "pst" is
correctly given, and of reverse-syllabled words, very accurately,
"anna, otto, alla, appa, enne"; of unlike-syllabled words, "lina,"
but still, notwithstanding many trials, not yet "bitte." _For the
first time three-syllabled words also, plainly pronounced to him,
were correctly given back_, viz., _a-mama_ and _a-pa-pa_, as the
child names his grandparents. Hitherto the vowels _e_, _i_, _o_,
_u_, could not be correctly given every time, but "a" could be so
given as before. When the reproduction of any new word that is too
hard is requested--e. g., "gute Nacht"--the child at this period
regularly answers _tap[)e]ta_, _p[)e]ta_, _pta_, and _ptoe-ptoe_, also
_rateratetat_, expressing thereby not merely his inability, but
also, sometimes roguishly, his disinclination to repeat.
_Ja ja_ and _nein nein_, along with _da_ and _bibi_ (with or without
folding of the hands, for "bitte"), and _mimi_, continue still to be the
only words taken from the language of adults that are used by the child
in the proper sense when he desires or refuses anything. Apart from
these appear inarticulate sounds, uttered even with the mouth shut. The
intense cry of pain, or that produced by cold or wet or by grief at the
departure of the parents (this with the accompaniment of abundant tears
and the drawing of the corners of the mouth far down), makes the
strongest contrast with the crowing for joy, particularly that at
meeting again.